Team news: New York Jets | Page 58

Tyrod Taylor may need surgery to repair a groin/sports hernia injury. Shouldn't impact free agency at all once Bills decline his option.

The Bills have seemingly chilled on Taylor, benching him in Week 17 in favor of E.J. Manuel to protect themselves from a Taylor injury that would cost the franchise millions. Taylor is reportedly (and wisely) preparing his exit strategy out of Buffalo. In 19 games over the last two years with a semi-healthy Sammy Watkins, Taylor has averaged 8.8 YPA (which is elite), 1.47 pass TD and just 0.42 interceptions. It will be interesting to see where he lands in 2017.

The Buffalo Bills are planning to bench Tyrod Taylor in their regular-season finale against the New York Jets and start EJ Manuel at quarterback, league sources have told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

After Rex Ryan made it publicly clear Monday that he intended to start Taylor in Week 17, the Bills management had a decision to make, sources told ESPN's Jeff Darlington. Buffalo could allow Ryan to coach against the Jets for his "revenge game," which was the original plan in recent weeks, or fire him to avoid the potential risk of an injury to Taylor.

Ultimately, management felt it was wise to fire Ryan now, keeping Taylor off the field, because of the injury guarantees that would be owed to Taylor if he was hurt and could not pass a physical March 11 -- the day when he'd be owed guarantees valued at $27.5 million.

The story said the team also does not want to take any chances with Taylor's health, especially after Oakland's Derek Carr and Tennessee's Marcus Mariota suffered season-ending leg injuries in Week 16.

Despite being eliminated from playoff contention, the team put forth their best performance of the season through the air. Tyrod Taylor had over 300 yards in a game for the first time in his career, and the Bills set a franchise record for most yards in a game with 589 yards.

Nobody was as consistent in the passing game as Charles Clay, hauling in eight catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns.

He also made two of the most important catches in the game.

Clay caught his first touchdown in the red zone down 28-14 in the third quarter. However, Clay’s biggest catch in a Bills uniform came on 4th-and-seven in the fourth quarter. With the Bills down to their last chance to take the lead, Clay had to go down to the turf to catch a sharp throw from Taylor in the front of the end zone. After being reviewed the play was upheld, and the Bills had their first lead of the afternoon.

We liked Clay as a free agent pickup off the wire this week for those in need at the position, and as a lower-end TE1 play. If your league has Week 17 games, Clay is someone to keep in mind as a player who is trending upward.